JFC. "Nobody tells me anything" is a great defense for a president.Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to United States officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence.
The information came out overnight from White House officials who reiterated the president was unaware, according to the Associated Press news agency (AP).
The assessment was included in at least one of President Donald Trump's written daily intelligence briefings at the time, according to the officials. Then-National Security Adviser John Bolton also told colleagues at the time that he briefed Trump on the intelligence assessment in March 2019.
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The White House has said Trump wasn't - and still hasn't been - briefed on the intelligence assessments because they have not been fully verified. However, it is rare for intelligence to be confirmed without a shadow of a doubt before it is presented to top officials.
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On Sunday, [former NSA John Bolton] suggested to NBC that Trump was claiming ignorance of Russia's provocations to justify his administration's lack of response.
"He can disown everything if nobody ever told him about it," Bolton said.
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Officials said they did not consider the intelligence assessments in 2019 to be particularly urgent, given Russian meddling in Afghanistan is not a new occurrence.
The officials with knowledge of Bolton's apparent briefing for Trump said it contained no "actionable intelligence", meaning the intelligence community did not have enough information to form a strategic plan or response. However, the classified assessment of Russian bounties was the sole purpose of the meeting.
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The National Security Council (NSC) and the undersecretary of defense for intelligence held meetings regarding the intelligence. The NSC didn't respond to questions about the meetings.
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Late Monday, the Pentagon issued a statement saying it was evaluating the intelligence but so far had "no corroborating evidence to validate the recent allegations".
"Regardless, we always take the safety and security of our forces in Afghanistan - and around the world - most seriously and therefore continuously adopt measures to prevent harm from potential threats," said Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman.
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The intelligence in 2019 and 2020 surrounding Russian bounties was derived in part from debriefings of captured Taliban militants. Officials with knowledge of the matter told the AP that Taliban operatives from opposite ends of the country and from separate tribes offered similar accounts.
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Concerns about Russian bounties flared anew this year after members of the elite Naval Special Warfare Development Group, known to the public as SEAL Team Six, raided a Taliban outpost and recovered roughly $500,000 in US currency.
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The White House contends the president was unaware of this development, too.
alJazeera
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
UPDATE:
UPDATE:
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